The spot where Katharine Hepburn falls into the canal in Summertime is still shown to tourists by guides.

It's been said that the tourism to Venice more than doubled in the year following the release of Summertime. The story remained in the popular culture with remakes and revivals of the source play, The Time of the Cuckoo. It was even adapted into a musical, Do I Hear a Waltz, with the book by Arthur Laurents and the music by Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim.

Summertime was warmly accepted upon release by the governing authorities of Venice, who viewed it as a great travelogue for their city. One of the reasons the film often has that feel is because David Lean said he was trying to view the city through Jane Hudson's eyes and to her, Venice was picture perfect.

The fireworks display that occurs as Katharine Hepburn and Rossano Brazzi head to the bedroom was repeated by Alfred Hitchcock in To Catch a Thief (1955) and quickly became a cliché in television and film for decades to come.

According to AFI notes on Summertime, "...before filming began, rumors circulated in Venice that the picture would be censored by the Patriarch of Venice due to its licentious story, and that the gondolieri would strike if shooting disrupted tourism. Allegedly, the problems were solved by a generous contribution to the restoration fund of the Basilica of San Marco, along with a promise that costumes showing bare arms or short skirts would not be worn in holy places and the hiring of a large number of gondolieri."

In 1971, The Carol Burnett Show did a spoof of Summertime.

In Terry Gilliam's 1991 movie, The Fisher King, one of the characters recommends Summertime as a good Katharine Hepburn movie to watch.

by Greg Ferrara